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Oil storage and loading facility

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  • Member since
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  • From: Gahanna, Ohio
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Posted by jbinkley60 on Thursday, August 30, 2007 3:21 PM
 oleirish wrote:

I was wondering what you made the tanks of???I could  use PVC pipe , no problem but how did you do the tops??I'am working on an oil tank farm With oil felds and pumps as well,Well maybe if my pumps come in some day.Oh! by the way I'am doing "N" scale.

Looks great,

JIM

This is HO scale.  The tanks are the Walthers Cornerstone storage tanks.  Someone else has a thread here where they made tanks from PVC piping.  The results were pretty good. 

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by jbinkley60 on Thursday, August 30, 2007 3:16 PM
 MisterBeasley wrote:

Very nicely finished off.  I like the DANGER signs.

Who made the fence?  I think that really completes the scene well.

I tried many different fence products.  The chainlink fence is the Plastruct fence product.  I just used a piece of styrene on the bottom and sunk the posts into it (instead of the plywood).  That way I could build the entire section and set it on the layout.  The wire across the top is just thread.  I've got a little more detailing to do (you'll notice no figures, bushes or trees yet).  I've got a bunch of wiring for the lights to do and then build the road to the parking lot.  This weekend's tasks.

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by oleirish on Thursday, August 30, 2007 12:01 PM

I was wondering what you made the tanks of???I could  use PVC pipe , no problem but how did you do the tops??I'am working on an oil tank farm With oil felds and pumps as well,Well maybe if my pumps come in some day.Oh! by the way I'am doing "N" scale.

Looks great,

JIM

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Posted by MisterBeasley on Thursday, August 30, 2007 7:06 AM

Very nicely finished off.  I like the DANGER signs.

Who made the fence?  I think that really completes the scene well.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by jbinkley60 on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 9:28 PM

 

A few updated pictures.  I still have more detailing to do, additional landscaping and finish the road into the parking lot.  I'll try to get some night shots this weekend with the building and yard lights on.

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, August 3, 2007 1:33 AM

Hey Jeff,

  Head over to our club website SWORA (southwest oklahoma railroad assoc). One of our members has done a small refinery scene.  He has working gates on the tracks leading into the loading platforms.  Using the pink foam you can buy at Lowes or Home depot he carved his berms then just covered them with ballast.  I do not know how much room you have, but anything can be compressed.

 

Thx

Dan

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Posted by jbinkley60 on Thursday, August 2, 2007 7:40 AM

 

Ok, at long last some progress has been made.  Here's some current pictures.  The chainlink fence took me a couple of weeks to get something I was satisfied with.  I've still got additional  details, landscaping, trees, roads and such to add.  I'll probably add a few more smaller tanks back to the right of the building.  The light poles are a slight variation of Tom Stage's design. 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by jbinkley60 on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 6:55 PM

 reklein wrote:
jbinckley, good little project. I think those short concrete retainers will get the idea across. Keep in mind that a lot of piping around those tank farms was underground. Don't forget a truck Facility. That too could be fed by a stand pipe and fueling platform. All this needs,is to be secure by fencing,and a shed for hazmat control.

I went ahead and raised the concrete retainers to .75" or 62" HO scale.  It actually works out exactly the same height as the steps that come with the storage tanks.  Yes, I am thinking whether the piping will go overhead or underground.  I'll play with it and see how much time I want to invest in the piping.  The load platforms are very tedious for such few parts.  It is due to all of the movable pieces.  The Watlhers chain link fence kit looks like it will work.  I am going to mount it on .080" x .125" styrene and spray it galvanized aluminum color (after shortening the posts to a few feet high) and then attach the styrene to the top of the retaining walls.     

I am thinking about the truck loading facility.  I'll see how I do on space.  I am heading out of town tomorrow so it will likely be another couple of weeks before I can post some updates. 

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by reklein on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 4:19 PM
jbinckley, good little project. I think those short concrete retainers will get the idea across. Keep in mind that a lot of piping around those tank farms was underground. Don't forget a truck Facility. That too could be fed by a stand pipe and fueling platform. All this needs,is to be secure by fencing,and a shed for hazmat control.
In Lewiston Idaho,where they filmed Breakheart pass.
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Posted by dknelson on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 8:04 AM
 MisterBeasley wrote:

My layout is set in the mid 1960's.  This oil company is owned by C. Montgomery Burns, so don't expect too much environmental awareness.  (The bulldozer is pushing dirt into a hole full of barrels full of God-knows-what.)

I made the retaining wall from balsa wood, stained black like old creosote-dipped railroad ties.

"Burns: The watchdog of public safety, is there any lower form of life?
Smithers: Don't worry sir, I rounded up our less gifted employees and led them into the basement."

There was a rail-served heating oil facility in my home town that had no berms right into the 1970s.   But I have also seen berms in photos from the 1930s.    Perhaps Mr Burns also owned the Deep Rock facility in South Milwaukee WI!

  "Burns: Look at that pig. Stuffing his face with donuts on my time! That's right, keep eating...Little do you know you're drawing ever closer to the poison donut! [cackles evilly, then stops abruptly] There is a poison one, isn't there Smithers?
Smithers: Err...no, sir. I discussed this with our lawyers and they consider it murder. "

 

Dave Nelson

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Posted by jpmorrison on Monday, July 9, 2007 5:46 PM

well i got home and now i can see them looking good jeff

 

                                                        jeff m

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Posted by MisterBeasley on Monday, July 9, 2007 5:24 PM

Just for a sanity check, I see them fine both at home and a work.

Oh, and they look good, too.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by jbinkley60 on Monday, July 9, 2007 4:31 PM
 jpmorrison wrote:

still nothing just red x's

                                 jeff m

 

Try holding down your shift key and hitting refresh.

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by jpmorrison on Monday, July 9, 2007 3:30 PM

still nothing just red x's

                                 jeff m

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Posted by jbinkley60 on Monday, July 9, 2007 1:51 PM
 jpmorrison wrote:

jeff i did not see any pictures

                            jeff m

They are showing up for me.  I checked from work and they show up there.

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by jpmorrison on Monday, July 9, 2007 10:45 AM

jeff i did not see any pictures

                            jeff m

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Posted by jbinkley60 on Sunday, July 8, 2007 2:47 PM

 

Ok, here are a few pictures of the current progress.  This first two pictures show the completed storage tanks in what I am calling Location #1.  The bottle of Dullcote represents a future small building.

This is location 1A (loading facility and building are on the same side of the tracks as the tanks)

The advantages of this location are that I have a long siding and the tanks don't block any major scenery behind them.  The piping would go over the tracks with location1 but not 1A 

Here is Location #2.

The advantage here is it maximizes space usage and has a dedicated siding but the big disadvantage is that it blocks the view to the coal mining operations behind it.  I am leaning towards location 1 or 1A.

I am also debating on concrete berms, making my own with ballast/stone material or none. If I stay with the concrete (styrene) pad, I probably should raise the berms.  Right now they are scale 22" high.  I could add 1 ot 2 more pieces of .25" styrene and get it to 43.5" or 65.25" .  I am also considering a chainlink fence on top of the berms (only with concrete).  If I go to 43.5" or 665.25" I will reduce the height of the fence considerably. 

I know the red airplane lights on the tanks aren't protypical but I like how they turned out.  Once I decide on the location I will finish the oil loading platform and add the piping to the tanks.

Feedback is welcome and for Tom Stage, all pictures are less than 60kb in size. 

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by superbe on Sunday, July 1, 2007 8:35 AM

Hi Jeff,

Good idea to go with the smaller dikes. The regs call for the containment of 110% of the larget tank. In HO unless you're trying for exact replication of what you are modeling appeareance of what looks right is OK Atleast thst's my opinion. If you have trouble with the brass tubing another modler used drinking straws.

Looking forward to the pics.

Bob

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Posted by jbinkley60 on Sunday, July 1, 2007 4:37 AM
 jeffers_mz wrote:

This outfit had two vertical tanks, a pipehead or two with valves, a small office building, and one tank truck, not a semi.

No berms.

Security considerations aside, the back of the office building had big grafitti on it. Go figure.

Thanks.  I've decided to go with concrete (stryene) for now.  I used .125" x .25" for the berms.  It ends up only being 21" scale height, not nearly as high as those monsters that come with the kit.  I also picked up some 3/32" brass tubing and plan to cut it at 1.5" long, drill a hole in the top of the tank, stick the tubing just into the hole and wire red LEDs into the other end for airplane marker lights.  It looks like it will work fine.  My next problem is the positioning on my layout.  My original position was next to the small town on the layout but I found another place, which fits better, but is close to my coal mine.  The advantage here is that I have a litle more space and I can have the loading racks next to the storage tanks on a siding which holds 4-5 tank cars.  The other option is closer to the town.  The advantage here is that it doesn't detract from the coal mine and the siding track is much longer.  I'll try to post a couple of pictures later today with the storage tanks sitting in position and maybe folks can provide some feedback. 

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by jeffers_mz on Saturday, June 30, 2007 11:06 PM

This outfit had two vertical tanks, a pipehead or two with valves, a small office building, and one tank truck, not a semi.

No berms.

Security considerations aside, the back of the office building had big grafitti on it. Go figure.

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Posted by jbinkley60 on Saturday, June 30, 2007 10:33 AM

 jeffers_mz wrote:
Saw a small distribution tank/plant, pretty much downtown in a small city last weekend. Noticed rusty old triple strand barbed wire atop a 6' chain link perimeter fence, and what caught my eye was the additional coil of shiny, brand new razor wire atop the triple strand.

This is similar to my setup.  This is right next to a small town.  I found where I had purchased three Pikestuff small steel buildings at a model railroad show (still in the bag), so I will try one of those for a building.  I have some chainlink fencing from Walthers that I might try.  If not, I'll look at some others.

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by jeffers_mz on Saturday, June 30, 2007 8:30 AM
Saw a small distribution tank/plant, pretty much downtown in a small city last weekend. Noticed rusty old triple strand barbed wire atop a 6' chain link perimeter fence, and what caught my eye was the additional coil of shiny, brand new razor wire atop the triple strand.
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Posted by G Paine on Friday, June 29, 2007 6:16 PM
 jpmorrison wrote:

if you look at btransue post 2nd address 3rd picture down i used walther's yard office http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2830 i don't know if you have the room for it.i took it apart and repainted it

Another appropriate modern building would be a small Pikestuff steel building.

George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch 

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Posted by jpmorrison on Friday, June 29, 2007 9:54 AM

thanks jeff. i used fire escape from tichy train group. the reason i used the building i grew up just 3 blocks away from it.

                                                                        jeff

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  • From: Gahanna, Ohio
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Posted by jbinkley60 on Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:43 PM
 jpmorrison wrote:

if you look at btransue post 2nd address 3rd picture down i used walther's yard office http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2830 i don't know if you have the room for it.i took it apart and repainted it

                                                                      jeff                           

I'll do some measuring and see if I have the room.  I like the building. You have a lot more room than I do.  I can't run a parallel track like you did.  I like your berms and the ground around your tanks.  If I go the concrete route, as suggested, I can use styrene for a concrete pad and concrete berms.  This would be similar to how I did my intermodal yard.  I hope I can get my piping as good as you did.  What did you use for the catwalks between the tanks.  I originally wasn't thinking of this (since I had a single tank) and even with two I doubt I'll go that way but yours looks great.

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by superbe on Thursday, June 28, 2007 7:55 PM

Hi Jeff,

Since you are modeling in the modern area you should have berms. In earlier times you could have used earthen dikes of such material as clay. It couldn't be stone as the fluid would go right through the dike. Concrete is what the EPA demands as well as a cement floor and if you won't to fully comply you would have a pumping system to pump rain water out of the diked area. However in HO sacle such detail would certainly be optional but not the dike. And, the time span of the "modern era" could exempt you from the latest requirements so the main thing is to present a realistic scene. I'd suggest some form of wharehouse with a loading dock for stocking oils, lubricants and greases. Just right for a spur to deliver a box car as well as a tank car although trucks are almost uiversially used. Also an appropiate parking area for the company vehicles. You could have a small pump house although today's pumps are impervious to weather.

Just a few ideas and good luck. Please post some pics.

Bob

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Posted by jpmorrison on Thursday, June 28, 2007 7:41 PM

if you look at btransue post 2nd address 3rd picture down i used walther's yard office http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2830 i don't know if you have the room for it.i took it apart and repainted it

                                                                      jeff

                                             

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Posted by jbinkley60 on Thursday, June 28, 2007 6:47 PM

 

I went ahead and bought a second storage tank.  One by itself just didn't look right and I have room for a second.  I like the idea of ballast or similar for the berms.  I have an assortment of stone I bought from Arizona Rock and Mineral.  I may mound a little up around the edges.  The plastic ones with the kit are just too big.  I also have a couple of the Walthers pipe kits to pipe it all together.  I am thinking of enclosing it all with chain link fencing, adding red 2.4mm lights for airplane marker lights and then maybe some ground spot lighting to light it up.  The one thing I haven't resolved yet is a building to go with the tanks where workers would go to monitor the equipment and such.  It might also have an inside toilet instead of a "yard closet".  I am open to ideas here.  My layout is modern era. I'll post some pictures next week as I get further along.  I am also debating on Reefer White vs. Antique white for painting the tanks.  I am thinking the reefer white might be too bright but I will finish it with Dullcote.

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 7:29 PM

My layout is set in the mid 1960's.  This oil company is owned by C. Montgomery Burns, so don't expect too much environmental awareness.  (The bulldozer is pushing dirt into a hole full of barrels full of God-knows-what.)

I made the retaining wall from balsa wood, stained black like old creosote-dipped railroad ties.

 

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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